1-6: Evan Potted Petunias Bloom (Edited 3/1/2022)
Chapter 1-6: Evan Potted Petunias Bloom
After finishing their interrupted lunch, Princess Celestia pulls Lightning Sunrise into a side room to talk. “Are you all set to see your aunt, uncle, and cousin? We don’t have to do it today if you just want to chill for the rest of the day.”
Lightning, in reply, just shakes his head, sensing her trepidation. “No, we might as well get it over with. Is there a reason you brought just me over?”
“I...I have no idea how the years have treated them, but your Uncle hated wizards, and your Aunt Petunia was jealous of Lily having magic. Us being there is going to be stressful enough on them.”
Lightning sensing the seriousness of that, asks in shock, “There are people here without magic!?”
“Unfortunately, yes and no. There are foals born in Equestria with blocked magic pathways. The condition is named Void Star Syndrome after the first documented sufferer. For centuries, we’ve had a cure for it, Muggle-ness the wizards call it. HOWEVER, when I was last here, I could not let on I was from Equestria.”
Cautiously and wanting to make a peace offering, Lightning asks, “Is there any way you can cure my cousin so he can get his letter?”
Princess Celestia ponders his request for a moment. “Maybe…, but doing it fast enough won’t be pleasant for him, and I wouldn’t even consider it normally, but because you asked for it I’ll offer it to them.” She then pulls her wand out and teases. “Do you want to retake the Knight Bus to get there or walk?”
Shaking his head vigorously and turning slightly green, Lightning moves over to and puts on his saddlebags. “No! No, I hope I never have to ride that thing from Tartarus again!”
Spreading her hands apart, Princess Celestia goes, “Ok! Ok, we won’t take it there and will instead walk to them.” Putting a couple of water bottles in her own saddlebags before putting them on, she then leads the way out the door. “I want the rest of you to stay here until we get back.”
The pair spend the leisurely half-hour walk talking about what she knows about the Dursleys and their hopes and fears for how the meeting will go. Soon enough, they end up on the doorstep of 4 Privet Drive during the mid-afternoon.
Motioning for Lightning to step off to one side out of view of the door, Princess Celestia knocks and hears a muffled, “I’m coming,” from the other side. The door then opens a few seconds later, revealing a Petunia who rapidly whitens as she sees Princess Celestia. With an exaggeratedly calm “You’re Dead!” the door is slammed in Princess Celestia’s face.
Princess Celestia takes this as casually as she can and resumes knocking. “Petunia, if I were dead and a ghost, I wouldn’t need to knock to come into your house.”
Petunia cracks the door open a smidge with the chain lock still attached and looks at Princess Celestia. “Aletia, they told me you died the night after my sister, Lily and her family died as heroes. Something about the building you were last seen entering being blown up by magical terrorists very shortly afterward.”
Princess Celestia nervously shifts a bit. “What Lily and I were working on was a secret to pretty much everyone. If you let us in, I can explain how we survived.”
Petunia looks around outside as best she can. “We? Who else is with you?”
Princess Celestia just gives her a warm, teasing look. “You’ll be delighted to meet him. So, can we come in?”
Huffing at the tease, Petunia closes the door to unlock it fully. Opening it entirely, she warns, “They better not mess with my Duddykins.”
Entering the house, Princess Celestia motions for Lightning to follow close behind. Catching sight of his eyes, Petunia inhales softly in shock. Princess Celestia reaches into her saddlebags and presses Lightning’s Hogwarts envelope into her hand. “Petunia, I have tried my hardest to ensure Lightning Sunrise here has had the happiest foalhood he could. Lightning Sunrise, I’d like you to meet your Aunt Petunia.”
Petunia splutters out confusedly, “Foalhood? I don’t have any other siblings either, especially not ones that are horses.”
Princess Celestia sits down on the couch without Petunia’s permission. “This is why I wanted us to be in here. Lily and I were working on magic to breach time and space, and our work resulted in a new unstable doorway between our separate worlds and species. It made me human to fit in here just as it made your sister, Lily, and her son pegasi to fit in with mine.”
Lightning speaks up at this point, pulling out the replica of Lily’s wand in order to point to the envelope. “It also shocked me to learn I wasn’t born an Equestrian. According to her, Lily chose the only name I’ve ever known after how I looked.”
Following along and looking at the envelope, Petunia scoops Lightning up in a hug with tears in her eyes. “So she sent you to Aletia to protect you from Voldemort’s Death Eaters? And you escaped into your world as well before they destroyed the doorway? How did you come back then?”
Receiving nods from the two, Princess Celestia answers the third question. “Like his father James, Lightning here leads his own band of friends, and they made the foolhardy decision to follow their siblings into a trapped, ruined castle to look for artifacts. They found one, the original doorway between our worlds that was turned off a thousand years ago and turned back on only for the past month.”
Petunia starts crying softly and gives Lightning a light thwap on the forehead for being foolhardy. “It is… It is probably a good thing you didn’t end up on my doorstep, Lightning. Your supposed death and James and Lily’s actual death hurt me greatly, and Vernon was furious with James for supposedly leading Lily into standing up to Voldemort and getting all three of you killed. I don’t think of either of us could deal with having to bury you for real, so don’t die on us, you hear.”
Wincing from the thwap but reaching around to hug her back, he lets her finish her piece before reassuring her. “I don’t have any plans to die any time soon. We generally don’t go looking for trouble or tree sap; it finds us instead.”
Mouthing a confused “Tree sap?” to Princess Celestia and just receiving a shake of the head saying she probably doesn’t want to know, Petunia then calls up the stairs, “DUDLEYKINS! I have a visitor I want you to meet!”
The three hear a surprised yelp from upstairs before a door opens and a complaining Dudley comes down the stairs. “Mom, you know this is when I wa….” His speech then fails him for a second as he sees Aletia, the sight of her causing him not to register the picture of Petunia hugging Lightning. “You’re dead, miss Aletia.” He turns to his mother. “Why did you let in a gho...Who are you hugging, mom, and why are you crying?”
Petunia turns Lightning to face Dudley for the first time and what he sees is a rough and tough fit-looking 11-year-old. “Dudley, I’d like you to meet your cousin Lightning Sunrise and his godmother Aletia. It...it turns out he didn’t die with your Aunt Lily and Uncle James; they’ve just been unable to bring him home since their death.”
Dudley’s mask cracks enough for him to tear up and he rushes over to hug both Lightning and Petunia. “Mom and even dad told me stories about how great yours were for standing up to that magic terrorist, even if their beating him cost them their lives. They’re my inspiration to protect my own schoolmates, and I’m glad you’re alive, Lightning. Dad will be, too, even if he won’t want to show it. I am jealous you’ll get to go to magic school, and I won’t.”
Shifting nervously, Princess Celestia pulls out her wand and addresses Petunia, “About that. I know you were jealous of your sister, but we have muggles amongst my own people and have a way to cure them of it. If you let me scan Dudley, I can determine whether I can cure him of it or not in time to get a Letter.”
Petunia lets go of both Lightning and Dudley before nodding with tears in her eyes. Receiving her consent, Princess Celestia silently casts an Equestrian charm with her wand and parses the results. “It seems I could, Petunia, but I imagine doing it in time would cause you, Dudley, lots of temporary pain while it is happening. The treatment is normally meant to take several weeks to months. Side effects would probably include whole body soreness for a few days. We’d also have to cross over to do it.”
Petunia, at that news, squeezes Dudley softly while she ponders for a short while over whether to involve Vernon or not. She finally decides he’ll probably agree. “Dudley, as Vernon usually says, ‘no pain, no gain.’ So, I’m leaving the decision to you.”
Dudley looks at all involved before finally nodding. “It’s probably better than Smeltings anyway. I’m tired of pretending to be the biggest bully in school to protect others.”
Petunia softly chuckles at his words. “Don’t let your dad hear you say that. Now let me leave him a note before we go.” She then scribbles something down on the dry erase board on the fridge before grabbing her keys and leading the way to her car, locking the door behind them.
Getting into her car, she thinks of something as the other three get in. “Aletia, just how much trouble are we going to have moving about over there? And will our clothes still fit?”
Princess Celestia smiles reassuringly as she buckles up. “You won’t have any trouble walking like you are used to, and just think you still have hands to pick things up. On the other hand or hoof, the clothes might be a little uncomfortable because they don’t have the holes ours do for our tails and wings.”
Dudley shifts uncomfortably in the backseat as the car starts moving at that answer. “Tails? Wings? You make it sound like you aren’t human.”
Petunia blushes slightly at forgetting to mention that, choosing instead to change the topic. “Aletia, what is your house number, and where is the portal?”
Aletia nods to Dudley’s question, briefly going back to that topic. “My world is populated by creatures thought mythical here: griffons, dragons, minotaurs, pegasi, and unicorns are just a few, but humans are an ancient myth there. All of us are capable of functioning like humans. I also don’t know what you two will become.
“Petunia, my address is 11 Magnolia Road, and the portal is in the park.”
Petunia just manages to turn the car onto Magnolia Crescent as she hums in thought. “I always wondered where she’d walk off to sometimes that final year of school.”
With that last thought, the car fades into silence for the remainder of the trip. Getting out, Princess Celestia leads the way to the tree quietly. “This way. Petunia, I recommend we go through in pairs: Dudley and Lightning, and yourself and myself. Lightning and I can ensure you two don’t fall down.”
Receiving nods from the other three, Lightning takes Dudley’s arm and steps through the other side into the secret chamber, hearing Dudley's shirt rip as they do so. He then helps support a wobbly Dudley take a few steps away. Princess Celestia does the same for an unstable Petunia about a minute later.
Letting the pair gain their balance on their own two feet and deal with the odd feeling of now having tails and mobile ears, and in Dudley’s case, wings and claws as all four look over each other.
Petunia reaches up to feel for a non-existent horn before managing to grab a lock of her now black to gold (Midnight gold Petunia) in one hoof to inspect her hair. “I don’t feel any wings on my back and can’t feel a horn on my head, so what am I?
Dudley flexes his new wings and holds up an unimaginative looking at first glance set of Platinum-Silver clawed hands. “What color is my hair? I can’t see it. It’s weird having wings as well.”
Princess Celestia chuckles softly and points to the portal mirror at their questions. “Dudley, your hair is blond with a platinum blonde stripe running through it. Petunia, you appear to be an Earth Pony, known for their strength and talent for gardening. Quite fitting for you. Meanwhile, Dudley, you appear to be an Earth Hippogriff, known for their strength and ability to soar as high as their will is willing to take them.”
Petunia, Lightning, and Dudley join in, chuckling softly at the species joke before Petunia gets serious. “Now, where are we going so you can give Dudley the life I was denied?”
Princess Celestia closes her eyes as her horn glows as she teleports in a padded stick into Dudley’s hoof. “Dudley, I wish I could knock you out or take away the pain, but the spells require you to be lucid to work properly. I want you to bite down on the stick. Petunia, I want you and Lightning to hold onto Dudley and not let go or stop comforting him. I want you to give me three nods, Dudley, when you are all set. Take as long as you need.”
The three move into position, and after a couple of minutes, Dudley nods his head three times. Celestia’s horn lights up, and a muffled scream of extreme pain emits from Dudley as he tries to thrash about. Opening his changeling senses to Dudley, Lightning is almost knocked out by the feeling of the sun flowing through Dudley’s veins, but for his cousin, he manages to start siphoning some of it away using his own magic.
During this whole ordeal, the massive overflow burned through the blockages in his mana channels like lava through a wooden house. It also started overflowing them, which would have caused massive internal damage if Lightning hadn’t started channeling his own changeling magic into Dudley to take away his pain. Finding a way to vent, Dudley’s feathers turn translucent while a curved platinum-silver horn with a watery blue groove pushes out of his forehead.
As soon as she senses that start to happen, Princess Celestia cuts off the flow of magic while panting slightly. Letting the changes settle while rubbing her hot horn, Princess Celestia gives Lightning a firm talking to as Dudley slowly regains his senses. “You got your wish, Lightning, but I am never doing that again. You almost accidentally had me kill your cousin, and the only reason he’s alive as a half-changeling is that you somehow took some of his pain with your magic.”
She then turns to Petunia and goes down on all fours, genuflecting and lowering her head. “Petunia, if your family ever needs anything, let me know, and I will get it for you if it is within my power to do so. It is the least I can do for almost killing your son.”
Lightning sensing the mood also genuflects on all fours while gently crying as he realizes just how wrong it could have gone. “I’m sorry, Aunt Petunia and Dudley, I just really wanted you, Dudley, to be able to join me at Hogwarts.”
Dudley very shakily walks over and tries to raise Lightning back up onto two legs and into a hug. “D-don’t cry L-Light-ning. I-I agreed t-to i-it and i-it worked.”
Petunia wobbles over to Princess Celestia and lifts her up into a brief hug with teary eyes. “You gave my son the chance to attend the school I never got to. My only request is you convince those wizards to allow the rest of us to have magic and to make this one-session version illegal in the future.”
Princess Celestia wryly chuckles as she squeezes back. “The number of people that could do what I did can be counted on two hands tops. I will still make it illegal to try, however. Lightning, it looks like you have a new pupil to train how to be a changeling.”
Crying and nodding softly, Lightning looks about while chuckling. “That I do, but how about we get out of this drafty castle and face the music so we can end this very long day?”
With nods of agreement all around, they all wobble their way back through the portal to Petunia’s parked car.
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I love this Dudley and Petunia can we keep them PLEASE! If this was them I wonder what personality Vernon will have
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I'm glad you like them. Just so you know this chapter got an edit just now because of events in 1-7: Fixing Broken Alders.
11168116
cool and thnx for the small spoiler of the name of a future chapter. Keep up the great work
i am now up too date with this story and i am rather enjoying it.
it started out a bit rough for the first few chapter but it has found it's stride now and is going strong.
i do like the changes from the HP cannon and i am hopping this Dudley keeps his ideals.
Is there some BB code spliced in on this line? The Text to speech just did something strange.
They can cure muggle? Some people are perfectly happy with being a muggle, they are called Earth ponies.
11222351
Earth Ponies aren't Muggles and, well, you'll see what Vernon becomes next chapter.
This is weird. Duddley and Petunia being nice? It kind of freaks me out and makes me think this is a trap or illusion.
Still, better this way though. Hope they keep like this.